dot

[ dot ]

/ dɒt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for dot on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small, roundish mark made with or as if with a pen.

a minute or small spot on a surface; speck: There were dots of soot on the window sill.

anything relatively small or specklike.

a small specimen, section, amount, or portion: a dot of butter.

a period, especially as used when pronouncing an internet address.

Music.

a point placed after a note or rest, to indicate that the duration of the note or rest is to be increased one half. A double dot further increases the duration by one half the value of the single dot.
a point placed under or over a note to indicate that it is to be played staccato.

Telegraphy. a signal of shorter duration than a dash, used in groups along with groups of dashes and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.

Printing. an individual element in a halftone reproduction.

verb (used with object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

to mark with or as if with a dot or dots.

to stud or diversify with or as if with dots: Trees dot the landscape.

to form or cover with dots: He dotted a line across the page.

Cooking. to sprinkle with dabs of butter, margarine, or the like: Dot the filling with butter.

verb (used without object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

to make a dot or dots.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE MANY TYPES OF NOUNS

They're everywhere you turn, but can you identify the 10 types of nouns easily? This quiz will test your mettle against singular, plural, concrete, abstract, common, proper, collective, compound, countable, and uncountable nouns!

Question 1 of 7

Shoelaces, rainbow, toothpaste, and haircuts are all what type of noun?

collective

compound

countable

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar Coach

Improve Your Writing

Idioms for dot

dot one's i's and cross one's t's, to be meticulous or precise, even to the smallest detail.

on the dot, Informal. precisely; exactly at the time specified: The guests arrived at eight o'clock on the dot.

the year dot, British Informal. very long ago.

Origin of dot

First recorded before 1000; perhaps to be identified with Old English dott “head of a boil,” though not attested in Middle English; cf. dottle, dit, derivative of Old English dyttan “to stop up” (probably derivative of dott ); cognate with Old High German tutta “nipple”

OTHER WORDS FROM dot

dotlike, adjectivedotter, noun

Definition for dot (2 of 4)

dot²

[ dot, dawt ]

/ dɒt, dɔt /

noun Civil Law.

dowry (def. 1).

Origin of dot

1850–55; <French <Latin dōtem, accusative of dōs dowry, akin to dāre to give

OTHER WORDS FROM dot

do·tal

[doht-l], /ˈdoʊt l/, adjective

Definition for dot (3 of 4)

Dot

[ dot ]

/ dɒt /

noun

a female given name, form of Dorothea and Dorothy.

Definition for dot (4 of 4)

DOT

Department of Transportation.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for dot

A light system projects a series of dots on the inside of the pads and a camera to observe how the pads deform when it picks up an object.
Toyota’s robotic butler will serve you from the ceiling|Stan Horaczek|October 3, 2020|Popular Science
They come in over 20 patterns including sunflowers, polka dots, leopard print, roses, and more.
Smartwatch accessories to give your high-tech friends and family|PopSci Commerce Team|October 1, 2020|Popular Science
If the dots disagreed with that decision, her brain didn’t put in an effort.
Confidence can make you miss important information|Bethany Brookshire|October 1, 2020|Science News For Students
That lets grocery sellers join the dots between ads and sales in realtime, and adjust their strategies to maximize ROI, even in a rapidly changing retail environment.
Is Amazon about to eat Google’s lunch?|Andrew Waber|September 25, 2020|Search Engine Land

If you see the dot, it means an app is accessing your iPhone’s phone or camera.
iPhone’s new ‘orange dot’ feature warns you when an app is listening|Jeff|September 17, 2020|Fortune
Any woman what'd leave a po' li'l mite lak dat to perish to death ain't fitten t' be no dotter o' mine.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States|Work Projects Administration
Her views on these questions were expounded in her later novels—Hertha and Far och dotter .
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4|Various
The dotter has no business striping or ornamenting the modern cutter or sleigh.
Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting|Mayton Clarence Hillick
You have had dotter practice, which is practically the same thing.
The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service|Frank Gee Patchin

British Dictionary definitions for dot (1 of 2)

dot¹

/ (dɒt) /

noun

a small round mark made with or as with a pen, etc; spot; speck; point

anything resembling a dot; a small amounta dot of paint

the mark (˙) that appears above the main stem of the letters i, j

music

the symbol (·) placed after a note or rest to increase its time value by half
this symbol written above or below a note indicating that it must be played or sung staccato

maths logic

the symbol (.) indicating multiplication or logical conjunction
a decimal point

the symbol (·) used, in combination with the symbol for dash (–), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codesCompare dit

the year dot informal as long ago as can be remembered

on the dot at exactly the arranged time

verb dots, dotting or dotted

(tr) to mark or form with a dotto dot a letter; a dotted crotchet

(tr) to scatter or intersperse (with dots or something resembling dots)bushes dotting the plain

(intr) to make a dot or dots

dot one's i's and cross one's t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

Derived forms of dot

dotter, noun

Word Origin for dot

Old English dott head of a boil; related to Old High German tutta nipple, Norwegian dott, Dutch dott lump

British Dictionary definitions for dot (2 of 2)

dot²

/ (dɒt) /

noun

civil law a woman's dowry

Derived forms of dot

dotal (ˈdəʊtəl), adjective

Word Origin for dot

C19: from French, from Latin dōs; related to dōtāre to endow, dāre to give

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for dot

dot

[ dŏt ]

n.

A tiny round mark made by or as if by a pointed instrument; a spot.

Scientific definitions for dot

dot

[ dŏt ]

A symbol (·) indicating multiplication, as in 2 · 4 = 8. It is used to indicate the dot product of vectors, for example A · B.

A period, as used as in URLs and e-mail addresses, to separate strings of words, as in www.hmco.com.

Idioms and Phrases with dot

dot

In addition to the idiom beginning with dot

dot the i's and cross the t's

also see:

on the dot
sign on the dotted line

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

dot

noun

verb (used with object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

verb (used without object), dot·ted, dot·ting.